Rice Varieties Intercropping Induced Soil Metabolic and Microbial Recruiting to Enhance the Rice Blast (Magnaporthe Oryzae) Resistance

[Background] Intercropping is considered an effective approach to defending rice disease. [Objectives/Methods] This study aimed to explore the resistance mechanism of rice intraspecific intercropping by investigating soil metabolites and their regulation on the rhizosphere soil microbial community using metabolomic and microbiome analyses. [Results] The results showed that the panicle blast disease occurrence of the resistant variety Shanyou63 (SY63) and the susceptible variety Huangkenuo (HKN) were both decreased in the intercropping compared to monoculture. Notably, HKN in the intercropping system exhibited significantly decreased disease incidence and increased disease resistance-related enzyme protease activity. KEGG annotation from soil metabolomics analysis revealed that phenylalanine metabolic pathway, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis pathway, and fructose and mannose metabolic pathway were the key pathways related to rice disease resistance. Soil microbiome analysis indicated that the bacterial genera <i>Nocardioides</i>, <i>Marmoricola</i>, <i>Luedemannella</i>, and <i>Desulfomonile</i> were significantly enriched in HKN after intercropping, while SY63 experienced a substantial accumulation of <i>Ruminiclostridium</i> and <i>Cellulomonas.</i> Omics-based correlation analysis highlighted that the community assembly of <i>Cellulomonas</i> and <i>Desulfomonile</i> significantly affected the content of the metabolites D-sorbitol, D-mannitol, quinic acid, which further proved that quinic acid had a significantly inhibitory effect on the mycelium growth of <i>Magnaporthe oryzae</i>, and these three metabolites had a significant blast control effect. The optimal rice blast-control efficiency on HKN was 51.72%, and Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH) was 64.57%. [Conclusions] These findings provide a theoretical basis for rice varieties intercropping and sustainable rice production, emphasizing the novelty of the study in elucidating the underlying mechanisms of intercropping-mediated disease resistance.